BOYS BASKETBALL: Greencastle-Antrim holds off Shippensburg

GREENCASTLE — It was the type of game we have come to expect between Greencastle-Antrim and Shippensburg.

Saturday night's boys basketball contest added yet another chapter to this growing rivalry, with the back-and-forth slugfest coming down to wire before G-A was ultimately able to hold on for a 59-56, Mid-Penn Colonial Division victory.

In their first meeting back on Dec. 21, the Blue Devils edged the Greyhounds 66-64 in overtime. Despite not needing an extra stanza, Saturday's contest was again equally-matched, with frequent momentum shifts culminating into a frantic sprint to the finish.

"It was similar to the first time we played," G-A head coach Gary Martin said. "Neither team really got away from the other. We felt like we knew what they were doing and we did a nice job with it."

Leading by four at halftime, the Blue Devils (14-3, 8-2 MPC-Colonial) relinquished the lead for the first time with 5:47 left in the third, as a 8-0 run by the Greyhounds (9-9, 6-5 MPC-Colonial) to open the quarter put Shippensburg ahead 34-30.

Unfazed, G-A responded with an impressive 17-4 scoring stretch to close the frame, jump-started by four consecutive points from Austin Scott.

A pair of 3-pointers from Zach Faulkner and Eli Englehart ensued, with a finger roll by Danny Stepler pushing the Blue Devils' advantage back to eight. Joel Zola capped the impressive run, burying a deep 3 from well beyond the arc prior to the buzzer, sending G-A into the fourth leading by nine at 47-38.

Seemingly in command, the Blue Devils allowed their lead to vanish in the first four minutes of the fourth, with back-to-back 3's from Shippensburg's Mac Miller knotting the game at 50 with 4:20 left to play.

Holden Baker provided an answer on G-A's next trip down the floor, draining a 3 of his own before buckets by Ty Kater and Zola essentially offset, resulting in a 55-52 Blue Devil advantage with 3:09 remaining.

A traveling call against the Greyhounds returned the ball to G-A on the ensuing possession, with Stepler being fouled with 1:30 left, making one of two free throws for a four-point lead.

Following another lay-in by Kater 15 seconds later to draw Ship within two, the sides exchanged fouls on both ends, with the Greyhounds failing to cash in from the stripe while Scott sunk his first of two attempts, pushing G-A's lead back to three.

Kater kept things interesting, getting another bucket to fall to cut the deficit to one, forcing Ship to send Zola to line with 3.9 seconds remaining.

Casually, G-A's leading scorer throughout the season knocked down both attempts, sealing the three-point win after Tony Johnson's half-court heave to tie sailed wide left at the buzzer.

Faulkner finished with a team-high 15 points for the Blue Devils, continuing to look more and more like himself after dealing with a knee injury midway through the season.

Page 2 of 2 - "Zach was determined tonight," Martin said. "You could see it in his play. It's nice to see him out there playing like he's healthy. He's our leader and we're going to need those types of performances from him down the stretch."

Stepler added 12 points in the win followed by 10 from Zola.

Reid Singhas led the Greyhounds with a game-high 17 points to go along with 16 from Kater. Miller also finished in double figures for Ship, netting 14 points in the loss.

The Blue Devils return to action on Tuesday at home against James Buchanan.

Due to the Shippensburg game being postponed from Friday night to Saturday, G-A's game originally scheduled for Saturday night at Northeastern has been rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 4.